Jay-Z and Beyoncé stirred controversy at the Super Bowl on Sunday when the power couple didn’t stand during the National Anthem. But Jay-Z says it wasn’t out of protest. He was just in “artist mode.”
At an event at Columbia University Wednesday, according to TMZ, a professor asked him if he remained seated to send a message. But he quickly replied, “It actually wasn’t. Sorry.”
Jay-Z’s production company, Roc Nation, recently entered a multi-million-dollar deal with the NFL to produce all of the entertainment, including the half-time show.
“I’m really just looking at the show,” he said. “The mics start. Was it too low to start?… Is it too many speakers on the floor?” he said.
He continued saying that no “silent protest” was needed since his production company was “making the biggest loudest protest of all” by featuring a diverse group of artists at the game. He also threw out the possibility that his eight-year-old daughter Blue Ivy was in on it, saying he would never put her “in that position.”
TMZ researched the entertainment mogul’s history with the National Anthem at sporting events and found that he always stands.
“Taking a knee” during the National Anthem started as a silent protest of racial injustice by football player Colin Kaepernick in 2016 and sparked sharp debates. The NFL essentially blacklisted him, so when Jay-Z entered into…
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